


Drowning

by jellyfishfics



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Chris thinking about how he didn't move quick enough, Fluff, I'm here to give you feels for Chris, Introspection, Light Angst, M/M, Reflection, Unrequited Love, also I spell Viktor with a k here, the fic about Chris' feeling towards victuuri we deserved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 09:56:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8745742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jellyfishfics/pseuds/jellyfishfics
Summary: Before the Grand Prix Final, Chris invites Viktor out for coffee to express his feelings.





	

**Author's Note:**

> My first Yuri!!! on Ice fic, and it's centered around the man who gets turned on by his routines and comes on the ice.
> 
> Nice, Denny.
> 
>  
> 
> A big thank you to [Cece,](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellocecily/pseuds/hellocecily) [Ingrid,](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ingthing) and Rei for looking over this fic for me!!! Thank you all, I love you.

“Well, I knew we’d be back here again, but I never thought you would be off the ice Viktor…I still can’t believe you’ve stayed his coach up until the Grand Prix Final.” Chris took a sip of his black coffee and grimaced. It was a tad too bitter.

Viktor laughed. “I guess I’ve finally surprised everyone this year. But I’ve got another surprise to tell you.”

Chris smiled, but he couldn’t match Viktor’s enthusiasm. He had a sinking feeling about this. He took a long, hot mouthful of coffee and swallowed it harshly.

“Do tell.”

“I’m going to stay Yuuri’s coach until he retires. He’s asked me to.” Viktor grinned the same winning grin he had when he held up his medals. All teeth, and crinkles around the eyes.

And it fit, because Chris felt like it was another loss on his part, perhaps his biggest loss yet.

“You’re sure about this?” Chris said, gripping the handle of his cup a bit too tight. “You took this break to find inspiration, but now you’re retiring from the rink?”

Viktor pouted. “I wouldn’t say I’m _retiring._ I’m just moving on to the next stage of my career, and that’s making Yuuri the best skater he can be.”

A waiter walked up to their table and placed a cup of café au lait in front of Viktor. Viktor always had a taste for sweet things, so Chris supposed it shouldn’t have been a shock that he fell for sweet, unassuming Yuuri Katsuki.

Viktor thanked the waiter with a quick, mispronounced _gracias!_ and took a photo of his drink for his Instagram, tagging Chris along with café, Barcelona, and GPF.

Chris reached into his coat and pulled out a flask from the inner pocket, silently offering it to Viktor with a raised brow. Viktor laughed, shaking his head in decline. Chris shrugged and flipped open the top, tipping the flask into his own coffee before closing it and putting it away.

“And you’re certain you won’t regret this?” Chris asked while Viktor puffed cutely over his cup. Damn, this would be harder than Chris thought. He took another gulp of his drink, and let the alcohol burn his throat as it went down.

After a few extra puffs, Viktor took a shy sip and licked the cream off the top of his lip. Chris swallowed his spit.

“Yes. Yuuri…he makes me feel things that no one has before. The way he skates, the way he makes music with his body, his moves, and the way that only I can choreograph routines to enhance that, to maximize it…it completes me. I never thought I’d watch someone skate and be happier than when I was skating myself.” The blush that always dusted Viktor’s nose started to spread to his cheeks.

“So it’s true then? You two are official?” Chris was surprised he didn’t stutter, though his cup was shaking in his hand. The vase on the table was in the way, so Viktor couldn’t see.

Viktor glanced around, bouncing a bit in his seat, and Chris recognized the gestures from Viktor’s impatience for his scores in the kiss and cry.

“Listen, I haven’t told anyone this…but I think Yuuri is going to propose!”

Chris felt his heart drop just as his cup clattered onto the small plate it was served on.

“R-Really? And…? What would you say?”

Viktor froze, eyes going a fraction wider and blush growing a tinge darker. Then he melted into a serene smile. Chris could feel the affection oozing off of him.

“I’d say yes.”

Viktor looked warm, satisfied, and it was vastly different from the cool beauty he was used to seeing on the ice. Viktor no longer seemed lost, searching the rink for answers during his routines. His answer was skating in place of him now. Viktor no longer hesitated in interviews about the future, he was bursting at the seams with praise for Yuuri.

Chris knew that Viktor wouldn’t stay on the ice forever. None of them could. Viktor was the eldest in the bracket too, everyone wondered when he would retire. Logically, this wasn’t a surprise. But those three words still felt like a punch in the gut to Chris, and probably would to many other skaters that Viktor had inspired and motivated in his career.

The shock wasn’t Viktor stepping down, but who took him off his pedestal. Chris had always assumed it would be himself. Ever since his debut in the senior division, he had hoped to impress Viktor as much as Viktor had impressed the world. He wanted Viktor to see him standing in the middle of rink, holding gold, just as he had to see Viktor doing so five times in a row.

And even if it couldn’t be Chris, people thought the upcoming ‘king’ JJ would be the one to steal the throne. That wouldn’t be unexpected.

No one imagined that the representative for Japan would swoop up from the bottom to sweep Viktor straight off the ice and into his arms.

The surprise of this stung like the slap of ice after a flubbed jump. Chris wanted to curse himself for being a slow starter. Just like he always planned to peak at the Grand Prix, he had planned on taking Viktor’s heart once he also took the gold. But how could Chris take something that was no longer free?

Yuuri stealing Viktor off the ice was a grave error, but Yuuri taking Viktor’s passion, revolving it around himself, was an unforgivable sin. Yuuri had all but plucked Viktor’s heart with his routines, coveted it for his own, and selfishly refused to let go. Now the world was forced to watch Yuuri play Viktor’s heart to the tune of their mutual love.

Chris sighed. It would’ve been unfair if the two weren’t so damn happy with each other. Chris wasn’t a homewrecker by nature, and as strongly as he felt for Viktor, he would never begrudge a relationship as beautiful as Viktor and Yuuri’s.

“Chris? Is something wrong?” Viktor asked, cup raised to his chin and head tilting a little to the side. Chris felt like punching Yuuri in the arm because he was the one who got to take Viktor home, got the living legend and all his adorable quirks to himself.

Chris gave his best smile. “I’m fine. Just a little tired since I’m out of coffee.”

“I can wave the waiter over to get you a refill,” Viktor said, already looking for someone to flag down.

Chris followed Viktor’s line of sight and saw a familiar mop of black hair duck hastily behind a newspaper at a nearby table, while his equally familiar companion laughed and snapped a photo of him.

“It’s fine,” Chris replied. “I don’t think I should keep you from your beloved for much longer.”

Viktor blushed prettily again. “That’s fine, I told Yuuri I’d be going out with you to catch up over coffee. He said he’d hang out with Phichit in the meantime.”

“I see,” Chris said as his gaze slid back over to Yuuri and Phichit’s ‘incognito’ table. Viktor must not have noticed them yet. Viktor started to look in the same direction, so Chris called Viktor’s attention back to himself. “Do you remember the day we met?”

“Huh?” Viktor asked. Viktor’s forgetfulness was fairly notorious thanks to the young Yuri Plisetsky bemoaning it.

“When you were seventeen and won the European Championships, it was my senior debut. When you left the podium and got off the rink, I congratulated you. You asked for my name, and threw me one of your flowers.”

Viktor’s face lit up in recognition. “I remember! I told you ‘See you at the World’s,’ right?”

Chris’ eyes widened in surprise. The fact that Viktor shared a memory so intimate with him…Chris supposed this should be enough for him. It was a part of Viktor that only Chris was allowed to have, and he could comfort himself with that.

Chris plucked a flower out of the vase in the middle of the table. He dabbed the stem dry and twirled it between his restless fingers. It was a pink camellia. Chris almost wanted to laugh at how fitting the meaning _longing for you_ was.

“Yes. I never told you, but I saved the flower for as long as I could. I put it in a vase of water as soon as I got home, and when it began to wilt, I dried it, kept it until it crumbled apart. Looking back, I should have pressed it into a book to preserve it.”

“Chris…” Viktor said with a stunned expression. 

Chris really wanted to laugh now. He finally managed to shock the Viktor Nikiforov, but it wasn’t with his skating. It was with his confession. Chris couldn’t help but wonder if he had said this sooner, before Yuuri was in the picture, maybe Viktor’s reaction would have been different. Maybe Viktor would have given Chris a shot at his heart.

Oh well. Chris never did like crying over what ifs. He was the type to move on and keep going when things didn’t go his way. He did this with his skating; he could do this with his love life too. Chris broke the stem of the camellia short, and rose to his feet to lean over the table. Viktor looked up at him questionably, but Chris just grinned and tucked the camellia into Viktor’s hair behind his ear. Then Chris bent lower, and kissed Viktor on the cheek.

“Congratulations on your engagement.”

Viktor blushed a deeper pink than the camellia. “We—he hasn’t—Yuuri hasn’t proposed to me yet!”

Chris rolled his eyes. “Then congrats on your soon-to-be engagement. Invite me to the wedding alright? I’ll send you some special order garters and stockings for your honeymoon,” Chris finished with a wink.

Viktor laughed so heartily that the flower almost fell out. “Ok. I’m sure Yuuri will appreciate your kindness when he yanks them off with his teeth.”

Chris laughed a bit himself. His chest felt lighter. The pain was still present, but this meeting soothed the ache quite a bit.

“I’ll go now,” Chris said, leaving money to pay for his and Viktor’s coffee. He deliberately walked past Yuuri’s table and saw Yuuri pointedly staring into the Spanish text of the newspaper, wearing Viktor’s sunglasses. Phichit had his cap turned forward, mask up, and was scrolling idly through his phone. Chris smirked, brushed up against Yuuri’s seat, and yanked the newspaper out of grasp. Yuuri let out a startled yelp at the same time Phichit snorted in amusement. Chris turned back and waved at Viktor.

Viktor blinked before gasping, “Yuuri!? How long—wait, why are you here? And is that Phichit with you?”

Chris watched Yuuri mull something over in his mind, chewing his lip and knitting his brows. Then he pushed his chair back and stood up, marched over to Viktor, and gripped his hand. Viktor had the same expression he had when Yuuri attempted a quad flip at the China Cup. Yuuri pushed his sunglasses up to look Chris in the eyes before bowing at the waist. Comically, the sunglasses fell back on the bridge of his nose.

“Eh? Yuuri? What’s the matter, do you feel sick?”

Chris chuckled. “They’re such idiots.”

Phichit gripped Chris’ arm comfortingly. Chris hadn’t realized he had gotten up.

“I’ll buy you a drink Chris.”

Chris took one last glance at Yuuri and Viktor. Viktor had his arms over the tops of Yuuri’s shoulders, and Yuuri stroked Viktor’s cheek gently. The camellia’s petals blended into the pink dusting Viktor’s ears. They were speaking in soft murmurs to each other, noses occasionally brushing.

Chris sighed in defeat. He wrapped an arm around Phichit’s waist.

“Lead the way my friend.”

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a kudos if your heart ached for Chris, leave a comment if you cried for Chris, and you can hmu too:
> 
> [tumblr](http://jellyfishfics.tumblr.com/)   
>  [twitter](https://twitter.com/jellyfishquips)
> 
> I'm always down to talk about how much I love Viktor and Yuuri.


End file.
